Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Here's Your Preview of Archie's Mega Man X FCBD Issue

The Free Comic Book Day website has posted a sneak peek of this year's Archie Comics "flip-book" for Free Comic Book Day, which features excerpts from both Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega ManX. The preview, however, only covers two pages from Mega Man X. It's short but sweet; a juciy teaser of what's to come.

Free Comic Book Day kicks off on Saturday, May 3rd. To find a participating retailer near you, call 1-888-comicbook or visit ComicShopLocator.com. You can also check out the full batch of titles and goodies up for grabs, as well as which shops are participating, at FreeComicBookDay.com.

@Joseph, that's exactly who I thought of when I saw the panel. If you follow the link harpuiazxad posted, it shows a picture of the brown Reploid who looks exactly like the green one. Also, I read Dr. Cain's Journal Entries in the X1 instruction manual and it was never implied that Sigma was the first reploid, just that he's the most intelligent with the latest circuit designs. Its like a person who gets the latest iPhone the day it comes out.

The info about Sigma being the first Reploid comes from one obscure Cyber Mission source (Rockman X Cyber Mission Complete Strategy Guide): "If you exclude X and Zero as Repliroids, Sigma, whom Dr. Cain created was the first Repliroid."

It does fit well with the phrase "unlimited strength and intelligence" from the journal, but less so with "latest circuitry designs". First Reploid or not, Sigma is also the strongest Repliroid in history, and that's what matters most.

If anything, I'm more concerned with the continued use of X2 Zero alongside X1 characters.

I wouldn't worry too much about the design: I imagine the X2 design is only being used for the cover and in the comic he will have his X1 design. While we're on the subject of Reploids, I want to bring up something that would generate a healthy discussion & debate: Way back years ago, the people at The Megaman Network used to do analysis articles about many aspects of the games, something which I think is sorely missed in its wiki form. The one I can recall concerns whether X & Zero should be considered Reploids, and their answer was an interesting if overly obvious one: YES & NO. NO in the "Literal" Sense based on the fact that Dr. Cain is credited for discovering and recreating the designs of Dr. Light, and his "Cain Labs" is the primary, if not the only manufacturer to mass produce the Reploids; since neither X nor Zero were made from Cain Labs, they would not be classified as Reploids, but rather as Robot Masters. [However, there is ONE important factor overlooked by everyone who believed this to be true (they're out there) & that is in the YES answer.]YES in the "Figurative" Sense because X & Zero share something Reploids are unique for & defined by, the one ability Mechaniloids don't have & even Robot Masters are limited in having: "Free Will". They've shown to be capable "...of individual thought & emotion: Love, Hate, Curiosity, Wonder, all the things that make life 'Life'...". Unlike a Robot Master who (for simplification of this topic) have to obey the 3 Laws of Robotics, a Reploid is able to either follow the laws or break them, much the same way of a human being. In that regard, X & Zero ARE Reploids.I know this was rather long, but I felt this was relevant to the comment topic.

The classic cast is best called "Humanoid Robots". "Robot Master" / "Boss Robot" is a poor substitute as it literally means "robot who commands other robots" or "boss of a game stage who is a robot".

Going from the Humanoid Robots of 20XX to the Reploids of 21XX, the "Based on X" factor matters little. It exists solely as a qualitative assessment of mental capabilities, and only on a fundamental theoretical level: not a practical one (the laws were never hard-coded). Similar but different systems can and will be developed to create Reploids independent from X (by corporations other than Cain Labs, might I add), while the older 20XX robots remain easy to confuse with actual 21XX Reploids.

So... In context of the in-game dialogue, there's only one question to ask: "Is it a Mechaniloid?" If not, it's a Reploid instead. Those are the only two classifications of robots in 21XX, hence Zero referring to Roll and Volnutt as Reploids both.